Reading The Forests of Silence
by GryffindorByHeart7
Summary: Lief, Barda and Jasmine travel back in time to read the books with Sharn, Endon, Jarred and Anna. Set before the invasion of the Shadow Lord, but after Jarred escapes the Palace.
1. Wishing

**Hello, dear readers! I hope you like this fic! But please note that it's my first one, so be gentle! Enjoy =D!**

** Disclaimer: I don't own the Deltora Quest series.**

Chapter 1: Wishing

It had been three days since the wedding between King Endon and Lady Sharn. The Palace had not stopped celebrating since then. King Endon had been crowned when he was very young, when his father died of a very curious fever. He had ruled alone until now, when his arranged marriage with a Toran woman, Sharn, had happened. Despite the fact that he did not know her very well, he already believed that their relationship would last long, and hoped that she felt the same way.

But now, Endon was alone in their bedroom, waiting for his wife to return from her walk through the palace gardens. Sharn did not invite him, because she knew that he needed some time alone. And for that, Endon was grateful.

He felt his eyes fill with unshed tears as he thought of his long lost childhood friend, Jarred. He hated himself for believing that Jarred could ever betray him, and regretted deeply not trusting him before it was too late. He had missed having his best friend by his side at the wedding, and missed him even more now that it was over. But he had no idea where Jarred was or what had become of him. Prandine had told him that he was dead (the palace guards found his clothes by the rocks near the sea, indicating that he drowned), but Endon never truly believed it. He believed that Jarred was alive, and that someday they would meet again.

Endon heard someone enter, and felt a lump in the bed next to him. Turning his head, he met his wife's concerned blue eyes staring back at him.

"Are you feeling better, dear?" She asked, gently caressing his hand.

"Yes." Endon tried to lie, but Sharn saw right through it "Okay, not really."

She wrapped an arm around him, and spoke softly in his ear "It will be alright, darling. Just wait and see."

Endon wanted to believe her. He wanted to believe that Jarred missed him, but he didn't see any reason for Jarred to forgive him, after what happened.

But little did he know that Jarred did just that.

Unknown to most of Deltora, there had been another wedding around the same time as the royal wedding, and the newlyweds were Anna, the granddaughter of the old blacksmith of Del, and Jarred, the King's childhood friend that he so greatly missed.

But even more surprising was the fact that at that moment, Jarred was also sitting alone, just outside the forge, thinking about Endon and his life at the Palace. Not a day went by without Endon crossing Jarred's mind, and made him hope that he would, someday, have a chance to smack his friend upside the head as payback for not believing in him, and then get really emotional and tell him how much he missed him.

Jarred sighed. He should have talked to Endon about it when the King was calm and rested, not sad and distressed because of his father's death and his coronation. He should have told him in an understanding way, instead of flinging it at his face.

"That is in the past" Jared said to himself, or that's what he thought.

"What is in the past?"Asked his wife Anna, coming to sit next to him.

Jarred turned to look at her, smiling. "Nothing, my love" he said, letting out a soft chuckle "Nothing you need to worry about". Anna just took his hand in hers, as an attempt to give him some comfort. Jarred leaned into her touch, wishing that his and Endon's situation wasn't this complicated.

But all of them were oblivious to the fact that they were being watched. Through a magical device, six people, along with two little animals, observed both couples.

"You sure about this, Lief?" a big bearded man asked the young boy next to him.

"Yes, Barda," said the boy, sounding tired. "We've been through this already."

"I know" replied the man called Barda. "I just thought that this might be not such a good idea and…"

"Honestly, Barda!" Exclaimed the wild-looking girl next to him. "Stop being so thick and let's do this!"

Barda looked like he was going to retort, but he just sighed and fell silent. That made the scarred man next to him chuckle. "Given up already, Barda? Pity. I was hoping to see my daughter beat a man twice her age again."

The richly dressed woman next to him took this opportunity to swat him playfully. "No need to boast, Doom!"

The young delicate-looking girl next to her laughed. "We should have predicted he would, right Sharn?"

Sharn joined her in laughter. "Perhaps you are right, Marilen."

"When you're done…" Said Lief, sounding annoyed but amused at the same time.

Lief, Barda and Jasmine laughed when Sharn, Doom and Marilen blushed.

"Lief, you're sure about this?" Sharn asked her son. Lief sighed. "Yes, Mother. I'm sure. Look, we've been through this…"

"But it could be dangerous! We don't know if you would be able to come back at all! Not to mention that-"

"Sharn" said Doom, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Let them do this. And, after all, it's not the most dangerous thing they've done." He chuckled darkly.

Sharn started to glare at him, but gave in and just nodded.

"Can we go now?" asked Jasmine, sounding excited. It was their first quest since they came back from their fight with that grey mass that the Shadow Lord had planned to use in his plan to destroy Deltora.

Doom chuckled. "You're that eager to get away from us?"

"We all are, Doom." Said Barda "I really can't stand your bad jokes anymore." They all laughed at Doom's expression.

"Guys" said Lief. "We should really get going." Barda and Jasmine nodded.

Sharn pulled her son in a hug. "Be careful." Lief nodded. When they finished their goodbyes, Lief approached Marilen. "It's time." She nodded.

They couldn't take the Belt away from Deltora, so they agreed that Marilen would keep it. Lief handed her the Belt, and she placed it around her waist. Lief smiled at her, and she returned it.

Lief took his place next to Jasmine and Barda. Jasmine had Filli on her shoulder and Kree perched on her left arm. Then, Doom stepped forward and gave Lief a shiny moonstone the size of his palm: the same object that would take them back in time. With that, Doom, Sharn and Marilen started their way back to the castle.

With a last encouraging smile to Barda and Jasmine, Lief raised the stone above his head and spoke an incantation. The moonstone started emitting a pure white light, which wrapped the three friends in its warm embrace, taking them to a timeless room, many years in the past.

Back in the past, strangely (or not so much) at the same time Lief activated the moonstone, the two newly wedded couples found themselves surrounded by a cloud of milky white light. The light blocked their vision. None of them could see even their own partners. And then, they felt their feet leaving the ground, taking them away from home, to the same room where Lief, Barda and Jasmine now waited.

For the couples, it would mean the biggest shock of their lives and many discoveries. For the time travelers, it would mean that Deltora could at last escape its terrible fate.

**There you are! I hope you enjoyed it and thank you for reading! Please, review! =D**


	2. Meeting Again

**Hello again! I'm REALLY REALLY sorry about the delay on publishing this chapter! I would also like to thank everyone who reviewed or put my story on alert and/or favorites! Thank you soo much! I hope you all enjoy this next chapter =D!**

**Blessed Yet Cursed asked me if I´m going to make Anna alive. Well, technically this is the past, so she´s not dead yet. **

**Thank you ALL again for your amazing support! =D**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Deltora Quest.**

Chapter 2: Meeting again

Neither one of the couples could see anything but the bright white light that embraced them, blocking their senses.

When it cleared, they found themselves on a big room, with a few couches and fluffy rugs. The walls were painted a pale blue, giving away a calming aura.

Jarred was the first one to notice that he and Anna weren't alone. Pushing Anna behind him, Jarred drew his sword and pointed it at Endon.

"HEY!" he yelled, to get Endon's attention. It worked quite well. A bit startled, Endon also pushed his wife behind him and drew his sword. He turned towards the yell, and his and Jarred's eyes met. A hint of recognition flashed in between them for a moment, but they simply ignored it, showing more concern about the well-being of their wives than some silly instinct.

"Who are you?" asked Jarred

"I should ask you the same thing" replied Endon. Then he took a step forward. Jarred raised his sword a little higher.

"Is this how you treat your king?" said Endon.

Jarred stopped short. No, it couldn't be…

"You're king Endon?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper now.

"Yes, I am the King." Replied Endon, a bit intrigued by the sudden change in the man, who ten seconds ago was threatening him with a sharp sword and now had this look in his eyes: it showed disbelief and uneasiness. "And who might you be?"

Jarred could not believe it, yet he knew it was true. Everything about the man and the women behind him screamed "royal". The fancy and expensive clothes, the proud way they stood. He felt a smile starting to form on his face. "Can't you recognize me, old friend?"

He saw Endon's expression change. He saw every emotion cross his face. Disbelief, anger, recognition, hesitation, acceptance. As one, they put their swords away and took a step forward.

"Jarred?" asked Endon quietly, like he found the situation too good to be true. Jarred just smiled.

Then, finally, both men stepped up and embraced each other. It looked like a normal hug (they didn't want to get too emotional), but who knew them well could see the true meaning of that hug.

After a few moments, they broke apart. The situation was really surreal. The recently-reunited friends took some time to examine the changes all that time had done to the other.

"It's good to see you." Said Endon.

"Same here." Said Jarred. He didn't really know what to do. Then he remembered what he wanted to do when he encountered his friend again. In one fluid movement, Jarred reached up and smacked his friend upside the head.

Endon's head flew forward. He looked up at Jarred with startled eyes.

"That's for not believing in me." Said Jarred. Then he started laughing, being joined by Endon once the first shock cleared.

Jarred felt a hand touch his arm. It was Anna. She didn't really want to ruin the moment, but the fact that they were in a place she didn't recognize scared her a little.

"Where are we?" she asked her husband. Before he could answer, a voice echoed through the room.

"I think it would be best if we answered that."

Everyone turned at the same time, looking for the source of the voice. Sharn was the first to see them. A young dark-haired, blue-eyed **(A/N: I don't know if Lief has blue eyes but just pretend he does…) **boy, a wild-looking, also dark haired but green-eyed girl, with a small little furry animal on her shoulder and a black bird on her arm, and a tall, older, bearded man. It didn't take long for the others to spot them as well.

As one, Endon and Jarred pushed their wives behind them once more, pointing their swords toward the trio. Barda's hand was inching to his own sword, but Lief placed a hand on his arm to quiet him down.

"Who are you?" demanded Endon, pointing his sword directly at Lief's heart. He remained calm, despite the "imminent danger" they were in.

"Drop your weapons" said Lief, trying not to think what was weirder: seeing his father alive again, or the fact that he was pointing a sword at him. "We mean you no harm."

Neither Jarred nor Endon bought it. They remained alert and ready for an attack.

Lief sighed. "We mean you no harm." he repeated. Keeping his eyes on the swords pointed at him, he slowly reached for his own sword, and dropped it to the ground. A little reluctantly, Jasmine and Barda followed his example.

"There" said Lief, looking at Endon "now only you two are armed. Will you let us talk?"

No response. Lief took that as an invitation to start talking. "We brought you here-"

"So you were the ones who brought us here!" Accused Jarred, looking more suspicious by the second.

Ignoring Jarred´s expression and his tone, Lief continued calmly "Yes. We brought you here to read a few books with us. And please" he said, seeing that interruptions were inevitable."Wait until I finish to ask questions."

"We are travelers from the future, and no, I´m not making it up. Deltora has suffered much in the future, and, after so long, we could finally find a way to stop it from happening. So, we decided the best way was to return to the past and fix everything that went wrong, But we also agreed that we might need help. And that´s basically why you´re here. We have brought a series of books to read with you. But, in the end, we leave the choice to you. When we finish reading, and you can truly understand the horrors our home has been put through, you will be able to decide whether you want to help or not. If your answer is no, we will send you back to your home with no memory of what has happened here. But if your answer is yes...than we shall, together, fight for Deltora."

A moment of silence followed Lief´s speech. Jasmine was itching to add that anyone who refused to help was a selfish creature that did not deserve to live and would suffer her revenge, but they had discussed that Lief would do all the speaking, at least while there were weapons pointed directly at them.

"Why us?" asked Sharn, moving to stand beside her husband, despite his warning look. "Why not someone else?"

"Because" said Lief "You are the only ones here who can do it."

Lowering his sword just a little, Endon asked. "Can we have a moment to decide?"

Lief smiled. "Sure."

While Endon, Jarred, Anna and Sharn went to one corner of the room, Lief turned to his companions. "How do you think that went?"

"Brilliant" said Barda, giving Lief an encouraging smile. "Now we must only hope that they accept it."

"They must" said Lief. "We can´t do it without them."

"Well" said Jasmine, crossing her arms. "If they decide that the future of Deltora is not something to risk your life for, then they are simple cowards who prefer to save their own skin than thousandths of lives."

"Jasmine..." stared Lief.

"What?" replied Jasmine. "I just think-"

Before she could finish her sentence, they heard Endon´s voice from behind them.

"We have decided" he said, giving a grumpy-looking Jarred a pointed look. "To hear your story, then decide what should be done."

Lief let out a breath he didn´t know he was holding. "Perfect" he said, smiling. "Shall we begin then?"

**And there´s the second chapter! I hope it was up to your expectations. Please, leave a review on your way out and wait for the next chapter! =D**


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